Bergen Port

[7leagueboots]

Cobblestones are not your suitcases' wheels friend! We lost two wheels several years ago and don't do that anymore.

[Cyber Kat]

On 7/21/2019 at 3:22 PM, retiredman said:

 

Even with shipping a bag, savings are substantial doing it yourself. But I do understand doing it for convenience.

 

We are all about convenience. If we are arriving or departing we take a cab or arrange for a car service. In this case Viking will pick us up at the airport, take us to the hotel. They will take us from the hotel to the train station. All the arrangements for the train will be taken care of. They will handle the luggage all the way to the ship, and take us to the ship from the train station. 

 

The only thing I have to check into is if we can pay to upgrade to Komfort class on the train.

[Liz Masterson]

1 hour ago, Cyber Kat said:

 

The only thing I have to check into is if we can pay to upgrade to Komfort class on the train.

 

I am curious about this as well! I do hope you'll post a follow up on your train journey!  🙂 

[Peregrina651]

I'm pretty sure that Viking will book Komfort class. I'm also pretty sure that you won't see your ticket until it is time to board the train in Oslo. At least this is how it worked on our river cruise this past March when we transferred from Lyon to Paris. Yes, different country and different company handling the details of the transfer.

[Twitchly]

We took the Viking extension last year, from Bergen to Oslo. Viking took over a couple of train cars, and we had an excellent tour guide for the 7-hour trip. I believe there were snacks and drinks, and we had lunch vouchers. No need for comfort class. 

 

Upon arrival in Oslo, we had another tour guide and a short tour of Oslo, followed by an excellent (though quite late) dinner. 

 

Everyone was pretty tired at the end. We were very glad we booked an extra day in Oslo to just relax, sleep in, and see a few sites on our own. Highly recommended.

[Liz Masterson]

Thanks @Twitchy what were the seats like? Fairly comfortable? I have nightmares of bench board seating for 7 hours. Sounds like I am wrong and will be fine with the accomodations.  The only pictures I can find online are comfort class! 

[Capt_BJ]

the seats are the same in the 'two' classes

 

the 'upgrade' gets you an assigned seat ... regular means 'find an empty'

 

folks who board mid route with comfort find 'regular' in their seats but locals understand and move ... in a pinch the conductor will help.

 

On our first experience we had comfort but there had been an equipment change and our assigned seats ... did not exist!!!!  Conductor just gave up a pair of seats and said if there was a problem down the line, call for him.  There wasn't.

 

Last trip we had comfort (reserved) .. same seats.  There are roaming folks to bring food/drinks but I preferred to stretch  my legs to go get.

[Twitchly]

7 hours ago, Liz Masterson said:

Thanks @Twitchy what were the seats like? Fairly comfortable? I have nightmares of bench board seating for 7 hours. Sounds like I am wrong and will be fine with the accomodations.  The only pictures I can find online are comfort class! 

 

As Capt_BJ says, the seats are the same. Plenty comfy. You get a couple of perks with comfort class, but they don’t really have much to do with the comfort of your backside.

 

If you take the Viking excursion, you sit in a car reserved just for Viking folks, you get a lovely guide to tell you all about Norway, and you get fed. Plus they take your luggage to Oslo in a separate vehicle. And my backside was happy. 

 

The bench seating seems to be more a feature of trains that take the small offshoot mountain railway to/from Flam. Some folks do that as part of a route informally known as “Norway in a Nutshell,” which would also be fun to do some day.

 

 

[Liz Masterson]

Well that settles that!  Cross that off my list of thinkgs I'm trying to figure out. 😄 

[BravoTango]

Happy to read all this. We have the OSLO pre-cruise extension on our forthcoming Wake of the Vikings tour in September

[Liz Masterson]

I posted this on a differnt thread but it might also be useful here.

-------

 

I had some questions about this whole Oslo to Bergen Train Extension.

 

We had booked the 4 day Extension with 2 nights in a hotel in Oslo, the train ride, and 2 nights in a hotel in Bergen before we board the ship.  But recently when I went to check a few things out the description on line had disappeared. So I emailed TellUs@VikingCruises.com and they were terrific!

 

It is still on and now up on the website. (They have been updating the website a lot recently.) There is not a Viking Host on the train... but it is 'narrated' (Maybe by an actual person as others have reported having someone assigned to their car?) and Viking Guests are in their own car and have a meal. etc.  There is no need to upgrade your seats as the physical seats are all the same comfort level, but the upgrade allows you to reserve a specific seat and includes refreshments. 

 

It would probably be less expensive to do it on our own. But it will also be nice to have Viking handling the luggage! And it will give us a chance to meet some new friends along the way.

 

Here is their email reply to me... but they also called. Nice service.

Note to self: Remember your charger and plug adaptor. Just in case you run down the battery taking pictures!🙂

-------

 

The train journey from Oslo to Bergen or Bergen to Oslo varies between 6 30 minutes and 7 hours.

Transfers to and from the train stations are provided.

The train tickets are standard class, Viking reserves a rail car exclusively for our guests; therefore the tickets are not upgradeable to a different class of service.  The train is NOT escorted by a Viking host.

A meal service is provided.

The Rail Line is NSB  

Pre  Cruise - Direction going Oslo to Bergen - The train leaves Oslo around 12 noon and arrives in Bergen in the evening, usually around 7 PM (Timing subject to change)

Post Cruise - Direction going Bergen to Oslo - The train leaves Bergen around 8 AM and arrives in Oslo usually in the afternoon, usually around 3 PM (Timing subject to change)

https://www.nsb.no/en/our-destinations/our-regional-railway-lines/bergenrailway

 

Note:-  The main differences in the two packages are that Oslo & Scenic Train has 2 nights hotel in Oslo whereas Oslo & Bergen rail has 1 Night Bergen & 1 Night in Oslo.

The other difference is Oslo & Bergen Rail includes a Bergen and an Oslo city tour. Oslo & Scenic Train only has an Oslo included tour.

There are elctrical outlets/sockets at each seat which would need European adaptors which are not available on the train. (JP BSL 28/2/19)

 

Note:- The Flam railway is not part of the journey, but it does conect along the route at Myrdal station.

 

[knoxclone]

Just FYI - we did not have power outlets (European or or otherwise) at our seats during our recent train trip from Bergen to Oslo.  We were traveling in Komfort Klass.... May have just been unlucky to have been in an older carriage, but don't automatically  assume you will be able recharge your devices  at your seats.  

[Lorizack]

7 hours ago, Liz Masterson said:

I posted this on a differnt thread but it might also be useful here.

-------

 

I had some questions about this whole Oslo to Bergen Train Extension.

 

We had booked the 4 day Extension with 2 nights in a hotel in Oslo, the train ride, and 2 nights in a hotel in Bergen before we board the ship.  But recently when I went to check a few things out the description on line had disappeared. So I emailed TellUs@VikingCruises.com and they were terrific!

 

It is still on and now up on the website. (They have been updating the website a lot recently.) There is not a Viking Host on the train... but it is 'narrated' (Maybe by an actual person as others have reported having someone assigned to their car?) and Viking Guests are in their own car and have a meal. etc.  There is no need to upgrade your seats as the physical seats are all the same comfort level, but the upgrade allows you to reserve a specific seat and includes refreshments. 

 

It would probably be less expensive to do it on our own. But it will also be nice to have Viking handling the luggage! And it will give us a chance to meet some new friends along the way.

 

Here is their email reply to me... but they also called. Nice service.

Note to self: Remember your charger and plug adaptor. Just in case you run down the battery taking pictures!🙂

-------

 

The train journey from Oslo to Bergen or Bergen to Oslo varies between 6 30 minutes and 7 hours.

Transfers to and from the train stations are provided.

The train tickets are standard class, Viking reserves a rail car exclusively for our guests; therefore the tickets are not upgradeable to a different class of service.  The train is NOT escorted by a Viking host.

A meal service is provided.

The Rail Line is NSB  

Pre  Cruise - Direction going Oslo to Bergen - The train leaves Oslo around 12 noon and arrives in Bergen in the evening, usually around 7 PM (Timing subject to change)

Post Cruise - Direction going Bergen to Oslo - The train leaves Bergen around 8 AM and arrives in Oslo usually in the afternoon, usually around 3 PM (Timing subject to change)

https://www.nsb.no/en/our-destinations/our-regional-railway-lines/bergenrailway

 

Note:-  The main differences in the two packages are that Oslo & Scenic Train has 2 nights hotel in Oslo whereas Oslo & Bergen rail has 1 Night Bergen & 1 Night in Oslo.

The other difference is Oslo & Bergen Rail includes a Bergen and an Oslo city tour. Oslo & Scenic Train only has an Oslo included tour.

There are elctrical outlets/sockets at each seat which would need European adaptors which are not available on the train. (JP BSL 28/2/19)

 

Note:- The Flam railway is not part of the journey, but it does conect along the route at Myrdal station.

 

•  

Thanks so much for posting this message, Liz. It’s the best info I’ve seen on our upcoming Oslo/Bergen Viking extension.  The timeline is a great help. I can see now that our time in both cities will certainly be limited! Better have a plan for what we absolutely want to see. We’ll be in Oslo on September 20....coming soon.

[Liz Masterson]

You’re welcome! I’m glad I could help.  I hope you’ll come back and tell us about your experience!

[just_dont]

Thanks so much for posting this message, Liz. It’s the best info I’ve seen on our upcoming Oslo/Bergen Viking extension.  The timeline is a great help. I can see now that our time in both cities will certainly be limited! Better have a plan for what we absolutely want to see. We’ll be in Oslo on September 20....coming soon.

Check out the discussion in https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2674596-air-arrangements-from-bergen/&share_tid=2674596&share_fid=24703&share_type=t


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